Lock cylinder assembly machine



Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL 3,111,748

LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 INVENTORS FkAA/K A. DOLL, MELV/LLE J Mc LEA/v BY Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 I78 s 4g 4- 3 a w 0 '1 l 70 6 I74 40 INVENTORS FRANK A. 0041., MELV/LLE J. McLEAN ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL 3,111,748

LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 F'RAA/K A. DOLL,

MELV/LLE J. MCLEAN ATTORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL 3,111,748

LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTO'RS FQAA/K A. DOLL, MELV/LLE J. 1140 LEA/V Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL 3,111,748

LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 /22 FIG. 2

INVENTORS FkA/VK' A. DOLL, MELV/LLE J. MCLEAN A 77'ORNEY Nov. 26, 1963 F. A. DOLL ETAL 3,111748 LOCK CYLINDER ASSEMBLY MACHINE Filed Aug. 21, 1961 6 Sheets-Sheet s INVENTORS FkAA/K A. DOLL, MELV/LLE J. McLEAN A'rraeuzr 3,111,748 LGCK (ZYLWDER ASSEMBLY MAlllNE Frank A. Doll and Melville J. McLean, both of Anaheim,

Calif., assignors to The American Hardware (lorporation, New Britain, Coma, a corporation of Connecticut Filed Aug. 21, 1961, Ser. No. 132,701 8 tjlalms. Il. 2'9-7ill8) This invention relates to an apparatus adapted to automatically assemble the components of a cylinder lock and, more particularly, to an apparatus of the aforementioned character which is adapted to accomplish such assembly without the necessity for the utilization of elaborate pattern creating mechanisms, such as keyboards or the like.

At the present time, cylinder locks are conventionally assembled by hand. The most difficult aspect of the assembly of cylinder locks is the determination of the ap propriate lengths of tumbler pins which are to be fed to the chambers of the plug of the lock in order that the pins will conform to the configuration of the bit of the lock key and establish a uniform shear line between the plug of the lock and the lock housing to permit relative rotation between said plug and said housing when said key is inserted in said lock.

The other aspects of cylinder lock assemblies, such as the subsequent insertion of springs, drive pins and covers, are relatively routine, but the determination of die proper lengths of tumbler pins to be inserted is a time-consuming task entailing the utilization of skilled labor and a hunt and try system which is essentially inefficient. Attempts have been made in the past to provide machines or apparatus for automatically assembling the components of cylinder locks, but such machines have proven ineilicacious for a variety of reasons, among them being undue complexity and the fact that they had to be set to a predetermined pattern by relatively elaborate programming means such as keyboards, electrical controls, or the like.

A primary advantage of the apparatus of our invention is the fact that elaborate programming means for the apparatus is dispensed with and cylinder locks can be assembled in a random fashion, thus eliminating the necessity for assembling large quantities of locks in the same pattern with the same pattern of keys and tumbler pins. This, of course, materially reduces the time necessary for assembly of cylinder locks and also eliminates the compleX programming means previously thought necessary to the proper operation of such apparatus.

While the apparatus of our invention will be disclosed as applied to the assembly of cylinder locks incorporating tumbler pins, it is, of course, not intended that the teachings of the invention be limited to the assembly of this particular type of lock, since it could be utilized to as semble wafer and other types of cylinder locks with equal efiiciency.

It is, therefore, an object of our invention to provide an apparatus for automatically assembling cylinder locks which is characterized by the fact that the duplicate key of the lock being assembled is utilized to determine the tumbler pin pattern of the lock and to control the insertion of tumbler pins of the proper length in the appropriate chambers of the plug of the lock.

Another object of our invention is the provision of the apparatus of the aforementioned character which includes means for mounting the lock being assembled with the plug and key thereof in operative relationship and with the duplicate key juxtaposed thereto in an appropriate mount therefor, said apparatus incorporating gaging means for determining the proper lengths of tumbler pins to be delivered to the plug of the lock and tumbler pin supply means adapted to deliver tumbler pins of approi see t priate length to the corresponding chambers of said plug of said lock.

Another object of our invention is the provision of the apparatus of the aforementioned character wherein the locks to be assembled can be chosen in a random fashion so that a completely random tumbler pattern is established from the lock to lock, determined only by the configuration of the key to be utilized in the lock. Of course, it is possible to establish uniform patterns and identical keying by using identical keys for a series of locks if such identical keying is desired.

Other objects and advantages of our invention will be apparent from the following specification and the accompanying drawings, which are for the purpose of illustration only, and in which:

HS. 1 is a top plan view of an apparatus constructed in accordance with the teachings of our invention;

P16. 2 is a perspective, partly schematic view illustrating the tumbler pin assembly portion of the apparatus of our invention;

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of a typical cylinder lock;

PEG. 4 is a top plan view of the tumbler pin assembly apparatus;

FIG. 5 is a partly sectional view of the tumbler pin assembly apparatus;

FIG. 6 is a vertical sectional view taken on the broken line 66 of FIG. 5;

FIG. '7 is a vertical sectional view of the tumbler pin assembly apparatus;

FIG. 8 is a vertical sectional view taken on the broken line 88 of FIG. 7;

FIG. 9 is a view corresponding to FIG. 8 showing the component parts of the apparatus in different locations;

FIG. 10 is a schematic view of the electrical circuit controlling the operation of the apparatus;

FIG. ll is a schematic view showing the pneumatic circuit of the apparatus; and

P16. 12 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view illustrating the operation of the gaging means of the invention.

Referring to the drawings, and particularly to FIGS. 1-5 thereof, we show an apparatus ill for automatically assembling the components of a cylinder lock 12, FIG. 3, said apparatus being constituted by a rotary table 14 having a plurality of fixed stations associated therewith and mounted on an encompassing stationary table 16.

The cylinder lock 12, as best shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, includes a cylinder housing 18 and a plug 2-6 rotatable therein, said plug having an elongated keyway 22 for receiving the configured bit 24 of a first key 26. A duplicate or second key 28 is provided for use with the lock 12.

The plug Ell incorporates a plurality of tumbler pin chambers 32 adapted to receive tumbler pins 34 which are associated with driving pins 36 biased downwardly by means of compression springs 38. The compression springs 38 and the associated driving pins 36 are maintained in operative relationship with chambers 4-2 in the cylinder housing 18 by means of a cover 4-4.

The bits 24 and 46 of the first and second keys, 26 and 28, respectively, are of identical configuration incorporating a plurality of notches and depressions which, as best shown in FIG. 3 of the drawings, are adapted to receive the lower extremities of the tumbler pins 34. When the key 26, having a properly configured bit 24, is inserted in the keyway 22. a shear line is established between the adjacent extremities of the tumbler pins 34 and the driving pins 36, said shear line coinciding with the adjacent surfaces of the plug 29 and the cylinder housing 18 to permit relative rotation between said plug and said cylina der housing in a manner well known to those skilled in the art.

Since the notches and protrusions on the key bits of different lock sets are necessarily different to prevent a single key from actuating a plurality of locks, the lengths of the tumbler pins 34 must be varied to accommodate the difierent configurations of key bits during the assembly of cylinder locks. Such selection of proper lengths of tumbler pins 3 1 is an arduous and time-consuming task which has been, up to the present time, most effectively performed by hand.

The apparatus of the invention includes a plurality of stations about the perimeter of the rotary table or dial 14, which are shown schematically in FIG. 1 of the drawings. The first station is a loading station and the second station is a blank station. At the third station there is located a pin loading apparatus 59 of the character of that shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings which is adapted to deposit half of the tumbler pins 314 in the corresponding chambers 32 of the plug 20, in a manner to be described in greater detail below, while the remainder of the turnbler pins are deposited at the fourth station. The fifth station is a blank station and an automatic inspection operation takes place at the sixth station. Rejected locks are removed from the apparatus at the seventh station and the eighth station is a blank station.

The driving pin 36 are loaded in the corresponding chambers 42 of the cylinder housing 18 at the ninth station and the compression springs 33 are loaded at the tenth station. The eleventh station is a blank station, the twelfth station being an inspection station to determine the operability of the completely assembled cylinder lock 12. Improperly assembled locks are rejected at the thirteenth station and the cover 44 is placed upon the lock at the fourteenth station and unloaded from the apparatus 16 at the fifteenth station.

The pin loading apparatus 54 includes a fixutre 52, as best shown in FIGS. 38 of the drawings, adapted to determine the sizes of tumbler pins 34 to be supplied to the lock 12, said fixture being mounted for movement upon the rotary dial or table 14. Mounted on the fixed table 16 is a co-operative pin supplying and loading means 199 which is adapted to be registered with the fixture 52 and to supply the requisite sizes and numbers of pins to the fixture 52, in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

The fixture 52 includes a housing 56 which. incorporates a first receptacle or mount 58 adapted to receive the cylinder housing 18 of the cylinder lock 12 with the plug thereof located in said cylinder housing, and a first key 26 disposed in the keyway 22 of said plug 29. The chambers 32 and 42 of the plug 20 and housing 18, respectively, are oriented into registration with one another to facilitate the loading of the tumbler pins 34- in the respective chambers 32 of the plug 2t).

A second receptacle or mount 68 is provided in the housing 56 in proximity to the first receptacle 58. It should be understood that the depiction of the various components of the pin loading apparatus 559, as illustrated in the drawings, is schematic in nature and it is not intended that the disclosure of the invention be limited to the particular configuration of any of the components illustrated in the drawings, since it will be obvious to those skilled in the art that variations in the configuration and operation of the components may be made without departing from the scope and operation of the invention.

The second receptacle or mount 68 is adapted to receive the duplicate key 28 which, as previously explained, has a key bit identical with the key bit v24 of the first key 26. The only significant variant encountered in the assembly of the cylinder lock 12 is the fact that changes in the lengths of the tumbler pins 34 must be accommodated to permit the particular lock being assembled to receive a key having a key bit of different configuration from the keys of previously assembled locks. The springs (3. 3S and the driving pins 36 usually are of uniform length and the basic problem confronted is to determine efiiciently the proper lengths of the tumbler pins 34 which must be deposited in the corresponding chambers 32 of the plug 26 of the particular cylinder lock 12 being assembled.

in order to accomplish this desired end the fixture 52 incorporates gaging means, indicated generally at 70, adapted to accurately determine the lengths of the tumbler pins 34 which should be deposited in the corresponding chambers 32 of the plug 20 of the lock 12. The gaging means 70 is juxtaposed to the second receptacle or mount =68 and includes a plurality of gaging pins 72 which are engageable with the corresponding protrusions and depressions of the key bit 46 of the duplicate key 28. At this juncture, it should be explained that the close proximity of the respective protrusions and depressions of the key bit 46 of the duplicate key 28 and the key bit 2 of the first key 26 prevents simultaneous reading of all of the protrusions and depressions by the gaging means '79. Therefore, at the third station, three alternate protrusions or depressions are read and at the fourth station the remainder of the protrusions or depressions are read. This means that in the assembly of five tumbler locks, three tumbler pins are deposited in the plug 26 at the third station and two tumbler pins are deposited at the fourth station, whereas when six tumbler locks are being assembled three tumbler pins are deposited at both the third and fourth stations. If dmired, more than three tumbler pins could be dropped depending on the requirement of the lock.

Operatively associated with each of the gaging pins 72 is a multiplying lever 74, each of said levers being biased downwardly by an associated drive pin '76 and compression spring '78, to, in turn, drive the associated gaging pin '72 into close engagement with the corresponding portion or" the bit as of the second or duplicate key 28.

Operatively and pivotally connected to the left-hand extremities of each of the levers 74 is a gaging bar 82 which is reciprocable in a corresponding guideway 84 in the housing 56, as best shown in FIG. 5 of the drawings.

Therefore, the deflection of the multiplying levers 74 is determined by the height at which each of the gaging pins 72 is located by contact with the bit 46 of the duplicate key 28.

The upper extremities of the gaging bars 82 project into the paths of movement of transmitting means constituted, in the present embodiment of the invention, by elongated slides 92 which, as best shown in FIGS. 2-5 of the drawings, are reciprocatable with respect to the housing 56 of the fixture 52. The transmitting means 90 is associated with the tumbler pin supplying portions of the pin loading apparatus 50 which are mounted on the fixed table 16 at the third and fourth stations. Therefore, as the rotary table or dial 14 is rotated the identical fixtures 52 are brought into successive juxtaposition with the tumbler pin supplying portions 100 of the pin loading apparatus 54).

The elongated slides 92 each include a gaging portion 94 at one extremity thereof which is juxtaposed to the gaging means 70, as best shown in FIGS. 2, 4-5 and 7 of the drawings. The gaging portions 94 are indicated at the left-hand side of the fixture 52, as viewed in FIGS. 5, 7 of the drawings. Each gaging portion 94 of each slide 92 incorporates a plurality of steps or lands 96 one of which is selectively engageable by an associated gaging bar 82 in a manner and for a purpose to be described in greater detail below.

Each of the slides 92 has an intermediate portion incorporating a plurality of cavities 98 which are aligned with one another and which are of depths and numbers corresponding to the lengths and numbers of the tumbler pins 34 which are required to be selectively deposited in the chambers 32 of the plug 20. For instance, in the present embodiment of the invention, each portion of the key bits 24 and 46 of the first and second keys 26 and 28, respectively, is potentially capable of receiving tumbier pins 34 of six different lengths by the provision of six different recesses or protrusions therein. Therefore, a corollation is established between the steps or lands 96 on the gaging portion 94 of each slide 92 and the number of cavities 98 in the intermediate portion of each slide 92.

The slides 92 are supported for reciprocation with re spect to the housing 56 of the fixture 52 upon a bed 162 which is positioned in overlying relationship with the upper surface of the rotary t ble or dial 14- by means of a bracket 104 which is, in turn, fastened to the fixed table 16. Each of the slides 92 is adapted to be reciprocated by an associated fluid motor 1436 which drives a piston 19?; connected to a piston rod 116 whose outer extremity is secured to an associated slide. The pneumatic circuitry for the energization of the various fluid motors will be described in greater detail hereinbelow. Each of the slides -92 is movable with respect to a vertical bore 112 formed in the bed Hi2, said bores having their lower extremities juxtaposed to the corresponding chambers 42 in the cylinder housing 1-8, as best shown in FIGS. 7, 8, and 9 of the drawings.

Tumbler pins 34 are adapted to be discharged from selected cavities 98 in the slides $2 through the bores 112, in a manner to be described in greater detail hereinbelow. The tumbler pins 34 are delivered to the cavities 98 in the slides 92 from the pin supplying portions 1% of the apparatus it? which also incorporate the slides 92. The pin supplying portions ltltl of the apparatus ll) include vibratory bowls 120 of conventional construction, as best shown in FIG. 2 of the drawings, said bowls being adapted to receive tumbler pins 34 of identical sizes which are fed, in the present embodiment of the invention, through three aligned tubes 122 to correspondingly aligned bores 124 provided in an elongated arm 126 adapted to be disposed in overlying relationship with the upper surface of the fixture 52 when said fixture is rotated into underlying relationship with said arm by rotation of the rotary dial or table lid.

Disposed in overlying relationship with the bed 102 on the bracket 164 is a gate slide 13%, said gate slide incorporating a plurality of openings 132 and being longitudinally reciprocatable on a longitudinal axis normal to the axes of movement of the slides 92 by means of a fluid motor 134. The gate slide 13% actually controls the dropping of the tumbler pins 34 from the cavities 98 of the slide 92 and normally acts to maintain the tumbler pins 34 in the cavities 98 of the slides 92 until the slides 92 have been oriented in proper relationship with bores 112 in the bed 162, in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

Disposed in operative relationship with the slides 92 is a loading assembly, indicated generally at Mil, said loading assembly including a tumbler pin carrier 142 which is movable at right angles to the slides 92 and which includes a plurality of receptacles 144 adapted to receive a corresponding plurality of tumbler pins 34 from the adjacent bores 124 provided in the overlying extremity of the arm 126. Movement of the carrier 142 is accomplished in a predetermined sequence by a fluid motor 146 which is connected to the carrier 142 by a piston rod 148.

interposed between the undersurface of the carrier 142 and the upper surface of the slides 92 is a blocking gate 159 which moves with the carrier 142 and which is normally disposed in blocking relationship with the lower extremities of the receptacles 144 in the carrier 142. The blocking gate 159 incorporates a plurality of openings 1352 which may be placed in registry with the lower extremities of the receptacles 144 in the carrier 142 when the carrier 142 is urged outwardly into overlying relationship with the slides 92 by the action of the fluid motor 146 in a manner to be described in greater detail below.

There is a lost motion connection, indicated generally at 166, between the underside of the carrier 142 and the blocking gate i). The lost motion connection 166 includes an elongated groove 162 in the carrier 142 and an interengaging lug 164 on the upper surface of the blocking gate 15%. Disposed between the adjacent inner extremities of the carrier T42 and blocking gate is a compression spring 166, said compression spring having its opposite extremities disposed in corresponding cavities 168 and 2 in the blocking gate 150 and carrier 142, respectively. Therefore, the action of the compression spring 166 norrnaly biases the blocking gate 150 outwardly to locate the lug 164 in the outer extremity of the groove 162 of the lost motion connection 160, as best shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings, to dispose the openings 152 of the blocking gate 150 out of registry with the lower extremities of the corresponding receptacles 144 of the carrier Therefore, the tumbler pins 34 located in the receptacles 144 of the carrier 142 cannot drop downwardly from the carrier 142 until outward movement of the carrier 142 during the normal sequence of operations, to be described in the normal sequence of operations, to be described in greater detail below, causes corresponding outward movement of the blocking gate 1% into a position, best shown in PEG. 9 of the drawings, wherein an abutment 1'74 thereupon engages a corresponding stop 176 to cause relative movement between the juxtaposed extremities of the carrier 142 and blocking gate 15d and the consequent compression of the compression spring 166, thus permitting the tumbler pins 34 located in the receptacles 144 of the carrier M2 to drop downwardly through the corresponding openings l2 in the blocking gate 150.

Superimposed upon the upper surface of the reciprocatable carrier 14-2 and interposed between the lower extremities of the bores 1124 in the arm 126 and the upper extremities of the receptacles 144 in the carrier 142 is a loading gate 178, said loading gate incorporating a plurality of apertures 182 having fnlsto-conical upper ext-rernities which, as best shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings, are normally disposed to establish communication between the bores 124- in the arm 126 and the corresponding receptacles 1 24 of the carrier 142.

A guide rod 186 in the form of a bolt 18% is secured to the forward extremity of the arm 126 and, as best shown in FIGS. 6 and 9 of the drawings, extends through a .counterbore 192 in the forward extremity of the loading gate 178. Encompassing the periphery of the rod 186 is a compression spring 194, said compression spring being adapted to urge an abutment 1% on the loading gate 178 away from the corresponding surface on the forward extremity of the arm 126 during a tumbler pin loading sequence, as best shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings.

The rearward extremity of the loading gate 178 is provided with a depending boss 1% which is engageable in a corresponding slot 262 in the upper surface of the carrier idZ. Therefore, when the fluid motor 146 retracts the piston rod 148 and corresponding retraction of the carrier 142 occurs, the forward extremity of the slot 2632 engages the depending boss 198 on the rearward extremity of the loading gate 178 drawing the loading gate 178 rearwardly against the bias of the compression spring 194 and causing the abutment 196 on the forward extremity of said loading gate to engage the corresponding forward extremtiy of the arm 126, as best shown in FIG. 6 of the drawings, to locate the upper frusto-conical extremities of the apertures 182, in said loading gate 178 in registry, respectively, with the lower extremities of the bores 124 in the arm l26 and the upper extremities of the receptacles 144 in the carrier 142. In this manner, tumbler pins 34 are fed from the bores 124 through the apertures 182 in the loading gate 178 into the corresponding receptacles 144 of the carrier 142.

The Operation of the Control Circuits 0f the Apparatus In order to accomplish the operation of the various components of the apparatus 10 in accordance with a predetermined sequence an interlock switch 204 is provided,

(I said interlock switch, as best shown in FEGS. 2, 7 and 11 of the drawings, being engageable by a plunger 2% which is displaced when a lock 12 is disposed in the corresponding first receptacle or mount 58 in the fixture Energization of the interlock switch 28% occurs when the fixture 52 is rotated into overlying relationship with the pin supplying portions 1% of the pin loading apparatus The rotary table or dial 14 is driven, as best shown in FIG. 11 of .the drawings, vby an indexing mechanism: 2% which includes an indexing disk 2110 engagea'ble by an indexing arm 212 which is mounted on a rotary shaft 214 in a manner well known to those skilled in the art. Supported on the shafit 21 are oppositely disposed cams 216 and 218, said cams being rotatable with said shaft.

A normally open limit switch 22% is, as best shown in FIG. 11 of the drawings, closed by the cam 216 when the fixture 5'2 and the corresponding pin supplying portion 1% of the pin loading apparatus 5% are juxtaposed in the manner shown in FIGS. l2 and 49 of the drawings. Closing of the limit switch 229 energizes a solenoid 222 operatively connected to a spring biased valve 224 which causes pressure air to flow through a line 226, as best shown in FIG. ll of the drawings, into each of the fluid motors 106 connected to the slides 92, thus causing corresponding movement of the piston rods 110 out of the fluid motors 106 and corresponding movement of said slides 92.

Simultaneously with the energization of the valve 224, the momentary closing of the limit switch 22!, causes energization of the time delay relay 223, for a purpose which will be described in greater detail below. It should be understood that the various fluid motors and, more particularly, the line connected thereto are, in turn, connected to a source of pressure fluid, such as air or the like.

Of course, the first and second receptacles or mounts 58 and 68 have been loaded at the loading station #1 and the gaging bars 82 have been moved into positions corresponding to the profile of the key bit 46 of the duplicate key 2.8 in the manner heretofore described. Therefore, as the individual slides 92 are moved by the action of the associated fluid motors 1% the steps 96 on the gaging portions 94 of said slides will cause the individual slides 92 to be stopped in positions which are determined by the elevation of the gaging bars 32, as best illustrated in FIG. 7 of the drawings.

When cessation of the movement of the individual slides 92 occurs back pressure created behind the pistons 108 of the motors 10 6 is fed through the line 226 to a normally opened pressure switch 232 causing said switch to close, and, as best shown in FIGS. 10 and 11 of the drawings, energizes the solenoid 2 34 of the spring biased valve 236. Opening of the valve 236 permits air to flow through the line 238 behind the piston 24% of the fluid motor 134 and thus, through the piston rod 242, causes movement of the gate slide 1st to register the openings 132 therein with the corresponding vertical bores H2. in the bed 102, as best shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings.

Of course, prior to the moving of the gate slide 130 and the three openings 132 therein in the above-described manner, the individual cavities 93 of the various slides 92 have been located in overlying relationship with the gate slide 130 10 place tumbler pins of proper lengths in position where they will register with the corresponding openings 132 in the gate slide 1 13i when the gate slide 138 is moved at a right angle to the slides 92. Therefore, the gate slide 136 actually controls the delivery of the tumbler pins 34 to the chambers 32 of the plug 2th of the cylinder lock 12 and can properly be described as a delivery gate.

The contacts 228' of the time delay relay 228 are now opened, as best shown in FIG. 10 of the drawings, to deenergize the solenoids 222 and 234 causing the air valves 224 and 236 to reverse the air flow to the fluid motors Hi6 and 134 which retracts the pistons 1% and are, re-

spectively, of said motors and causes corresponding return of the slides 92 and the delivery gate 134) to their original positions.

teturn of the pistons Iii-3 to their original positions causes back pressure to close a normally open pressure switch 244, as best shown in FIGS. 10* and 11 of the drawings. The cam 218 now momentarily closes a normally open limit switch 246, as best shown in FIG. 11 of the drawings, to energize a time delay relay 2%. Closing of the limit switch 2% energizes a solenoid 250 of a spring biased valve 252 causing air to flow through a line 254 to the fluid motor 146 and urging a piston 256 and the associated piston rod 148 thereof, as best shown in FIG. 11 of the drawings, outwardly to move the carrier 142 outwardly from the position shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings to the position shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings. in the position or" the carrier 142 as shown in FIG. 8 of the drawings, as previously indicated, the blocking gate 159 prevents tumbler pins 34 located in the receptacles 14 4 of the carrier M2 trom moving downwardly from said receptacles. However, when the carrier 142 is moved into the position shown in FIG. 9 of the drawings, the blocking gate 156 is urged against the stop 176 and the openings 152 therein are registered with the cor-respend-ing cavities 93 in the slides 92. Therefore, tumbler pins 3 will drop downwardly from those receptacles 144 of the carrier 1 5-2 which are located over cavities $3 in the slides 92 which have been emptied of tumbler pins Of course, the tumbler pins 34- will be retained in the cavities 98 of the slides 92 because the delivery gate 13%) has now been returned to the position in which its openings 132 are now out of registry with the lower extremities of the cavities 98 of the slides 92.

Subsequently, the contacts 243 of the time delay relay 248 open and the solenoid 25i permits reversal of the valve 252 causing pressure fluid to flow to the other side of the piston 256 and retracting the carrier 142 from the position of FIG. 9 into the position of FIG. 6. When the carrier 142 is fully retracted the loading gate 178 is correspondingly retracted by engagement of the depending boss 193 on the rearward extremity thereof on the forward extremity of the slot 202 which causes the frustoconical upper extremities of the apparatus 182 thereof to register, respectively, with the lower extremities of the bores 124 in the arm 126 and the upper extremities of the receptacles 144 of the carrier 142. Registry of the corresponding bores and receptacles permits the tumbler pins 34 to drop downwardly into the receptacles 144 of the carrier 142 which have been emptied of tumbler pins.

We thus provide by our invention an apparatus which is adapted to automatically load a cylinder lock with tumbler pins which are of the requisite length to accommodate keys whose bits are of predetermined configuration. Instead of utilizing complicating programming means, the apparatus of our invention utilizes a duplicate key as a criterion for loading tumblers of proper lengths in the corresponding cavities of the plug of a cylinder lock. While we have disclosed the concept of utilizing a duplicate key it is, of course, conceivable that a blank having a bit whose configuration corresponds to that of the key in the plug of the lock being loaded with pin tumblers might be utilized in substitution therefor, or that a pattern adapted to establish such a configuration might be substituted for the duplicate key.

The utilization of the apparatus of our invention eliminates the painstaking hand loading of the cylinder locks with pin tumblers which is, of course, a time-consuming and expensive operation. With the device of our invention it is merely necessary to provide one operator who loads the apparatus at the loading station with the cylinder lock and the corresponding duplicate key. All of the other operations are completely automatic. Because of the utilization of a duplicate key or a corresponding blank it is possible to assemble locks in a completely random manner and it is not necessary that a large number of locks be assembled whose keying is identical.

We claim:

1. In an apparatus for assembling cylinder locks, the combination of: a rotary table; a fixture on said table having a first receptacle for the reception of a lock cylinder having a plug therein and a first key in said plug, said fixture having a second receptacle for a pattern identical with the bit of said first key; gaging means on said fixture engageable with said pattern for reading the configuration of said pattern; tumbler pin feeding means juxtaposed to said table and engagebale with said fixture to feed pins to said plug and said cylinder; means connecting said gaging means and said pin feeding means whereby pins of predetermined length are fed to said plug and said housing; and control means operatively connected to said table adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control means including an interlock switch engageable by said lock cylinder and an indexing mechanism adapted to index said table past said tumbler feeding means to juxtapose said fixture thereto.

2. In an apparatus for automatically assembling the components of a cylinder lock, the combination of: a rotary table; a fixture on said table incorporating a first receptacle for the reception of said lock with a first key therein, said fixture having a second receptacle for the reception of a pattern identical with the bit of said first key; gaging means on said fixture engageable with the protrusions and depressions on said pattern; tumbler pin feeding means juxtaposed to said table and on said fixture overlying said first receptacle; connecting means between said gaging means and said feeding means for causing said feeding means to introduce tumbler pins into said lock corresponding to the protrusions and depressions of said first key and said pattern; and control means operatively connected to said table adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control means including an interlock switch engageable by said lock cylinder and an indexing mechanism adapted to index said table past said tumbler feeding means to juxtapose said fixture thereto.

3. In an apparatus for inserting tumbler pins in a cylinder lock, the combination of: a rotary table; a plurality of fixtures mounted on said table each having a first receptacle for the reception of said cylinder lock with a first key inserted in the plug thereof, said fixture having a second receptacle adjacent said first receptacle for the reception of a second key whose bit is identical with that of said first key; gaging means on said fixture adapted to be moved into contact with said second key, said gaging means incorporating bit engaging elements urgable into contact with the corresponding protrusions and depressions of said bit of said second key; tumbler pin feeding means mounted on a support adjacent said table and juxtaposed to said first receptacle; control means interposed between said tumbler pin feeding means and said gaging means to determine the length of the pins fed to the plug of said lock; and a control circuit connected to said table and adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control circuit including an interlock switch associated with said apparatus for energization by a cylinder operated plunger and an indexing mechanism adapted to automatically cause the rotation of said table and the successive juxtaposition of said fixtures to said tumbler pin feeding means.

4. In an apparatus for assembling a cylinder lock, the combination of: a rotary table; a plurality of housings mounted on said table each having first and second receptacles therein, respectively, adapted to receive said lock with a first key therein and a second key, the bits of said keys being identical; gaging means for reading the contours of the bit of said second key; tumbler pin feeding means mounted on a support adjacent the path of rotation of said table and juxtaposable in operative relationship with said first receptacle; transmitting means adapted to transmit the reading from said gaging means to said tumbler pin feeding means; charging means for selectively recharging said tumbler pin feeding means after a selected group of tumbler pins has been deposited in the plug of said lock; and a control circuit connected to said table and adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control circuit including an interlock switch associated with said apparatus for energization by a cylinder operated plunger and an indexing mechanism adapted to automatically cause the rotation of said table and th successive juxtaposition of said housings to said tumbler pin feeding means.

5. In a cylinder lock assembly apparatus adapted to deposit tumbler pins of appropriate length in said cylinder lock, the combination of: a rotary table; a plurality of housings mounted on said rotary table each having a first receptacle adapted to receive said lock with a first key in the plug of said lock and having a second receptacle adapted to receive a second key identical with said first key; gaging means juxtaposed to and in communication with said second receptacle, said gaging means incorporating reading means adapted to determine the configuration of the bit of said first key; transmitting means in said housing interposed between said first and second receptacles and adapted to transmit a pattern corresponding to the configuration of said bit of said second key; tumbler pin supply means mounted ona support adjacent the path of rotation of said rotary table registrable with said first receptacle; means connected to said transmitting means for disposing said tumbler pin supply means and said transmitting means in operative relationship with each other whereby said tumbler pin supply means will discharge tumbler pins of selected length through said transmitting means to said lock; and a control circuit connected to said table and adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control circuit including an interlock switch associated with said apparatus for energization by a cylinder operated plunger and an indexing mechanism adapted to automatically cause the rotation of said table and the successive juxtaposition of said housings to said tumbler pin supply means.

6. In an apparatus adapted to automatically select and feed tumbler pins to the appropriate chambers of a cylinder lock, the combination of: a rotary table; a plurality of housings mounted on said rotary table and incorporating a mount for said lock with a first key in said lock and a mount for a second key whose bit configuration is identical with that of said first key; gaging means adapted to engage the bit of said second key, and gaging means incorporating pins adapted to abut on corresponding portions of said second key bit; tumbler pin supply means mounted on a support adjacent the perimeter of said table and adapted to communicate with said first mount; transmitting means interposed between said first and second mounts adapted to convert the configuration of the second key bit into a tumbler pin feeding pattern; means for discharging said tumbler pins from said tumbler pin supply means into corresponding chambers of said lock; and a control circuit connected to said table and adapted to control the rotation thereof, said control circuit including an interlock switch associated with said apparatus for energization by a cylinder operated plunger and an indexing mechanism adapted to automatically cause the rotation of said table and the successive juxta position of said housings to said tumbler pin supply means.

7. In an apparatus whereby tumbler pins are adapted to be fed in proper lengths to corresponding pin chambers of a cylinder lock, the combination of: a plurality of housings each incorporating a first mount adapted to support said lock with a first key deposited therein and a second mount adapted to support a second key whose bit is of identical configuration with said first key and means for reading the configuration of said second key, said housings incorporating transmitting means for transmitting the information derived from said reading means to a point adjacent said first mount; a rotary table supporting said housings; tumbler pin supply means adjacent said first mount and supported on a support adjacent the path of rotation of said table; a control means interposed between said transmitting means and said tumbler pin supply means for permitting tumbler pins of selected length to be discharged from said tumbler pin supply means to said cylinder lock; and a control circuit for said rotary table including indexing means adapted to sequentially rotate said rotary table to jnxtapose said housings to said tumbler pin supply means.

8. In an apparatus whereby tumbler pins are adapted 10 whose bit is of identical configuration with said first key; 15

means for determining the contour of the bit of said second key, said means including a plurality of pins of uniform length adapted to be juxtaposed to said bit; transmitting means for transmitting the information derived as to the contour of said bit of said second key, said transmitting means including a plurality of feeding slides each incorporating receptacles of different length for the receptacle of tumbler pins of corresponding length; tumbler pin supply means adapted to be juxtaposed to said first mount in overlying relationship with said slides; and control means interposed between said slides and said mount to prevent premature deposition of tumbler pins in said lock.

No references cited. 

1. IN AN APPARATUS FOR ASSEMBLING CYLINDER LOCKS, THE COMBINATION OF: A ROTARY TABLE; A FIXTURE ON SAID TABLE HAVING A FIRST RECEPTACLE FOR THE RECEPTION OF A LOCK CYLINDER HAVING A PLUG THEREIN AND A FIRST KEY IN SAID PLUG, SAID FIXTURE HAVING A SECOND RECEPTACLE FOR A PATTERN IDENTICAL WITH THE BIT OF SAID FIRST KEY; GAGING MEANS ON SAID FIXTURE ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID PATTERN FOR READING THE CONFIGURATION OF SAID PATTERN; TUMBLER PIN FEEDING MEANS JUXTAPOSED TO SAID TABLE AND ENGAGEABLE WITH SAID FIXTURE TO FEED PINS TO SAID PLUG AND SAID CYLINDER; MEANS CONNECTING SAID GAGING MEANS AND SAID PIN FEEDING MEANS WHEREBY PINS OF PREDETERMINED LENGTH ARE FED TO SAID PLUG AND SAID HOUSING; AND CONTROL MEANS OPERATIVELY CONNECTED TO SAID TABLE ADAPTED TO CONTROL THE ROTATION THEREOF, SAID CONTROL MEANS INCLUDING AN INTERLOCK SWITCH ENGAGEABLE BY SAID LOCK CYLINDER AND AN INDEXING MECHANISM ADAPTED TO INDEX SAID TABLE PAST SAID TUMBLER FEEDING MEANS TO JUXTAPOSE SAID FIXTURE THERETO. 